


The View From Afar

by ItsaVikingThing



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Anniversary, F/F, Fluff, Humour, Spirit Festival, Spirit Shenanigans, korrasami secret santa 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21866533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsaVikingThing/pseuds/ItsaVikingThing
Summary: Korra is caught up in the final preparations for Republic City's first Spirit Festival since Korra created the new Spirit Portal. Being the bridge between two worlds is a challenge Korra isn't sure she's up to, and the Spirit Festival is something Korra can't get excited about celebrating. Luckily, Asami is there to help her make the most of the holiday...
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 33
Kudos: 137





	The View From Afar

**Author's Note:**

> For lamftw! Happy Korrasamiversary! I promise I didn't go completely rogue on your prompt, just very slightly. I hope you enjoy it, though!

"Remind me, Avatar Korra," Borr, the Great Spirit of Banquets rumbles, squinting over their snout past Korra's shoulder, "which of these is ripe?"

"We've been over this!" Korra pinches the bridge of her nose. She's been neck deep in spirits and committees and event planners and politicians and members of the public for _months_, and now that Republic City's first Spirit Festival is almost here, just when she should finally be able to see an end in sight, Korra has to deal with Borr.

And, unfortunately, representatives of all of Republic City's newspapers and several prominent citizens, who are here at the portal to see what their tax liens and donations have bought them. Presumably, when one of Zhu Li's people put this meet and greet with the Avatar and some spirits together, they didn't think to vet _which_ spirit Korra would be meeting with today.

Borr, an ancient spirit who is examining the meeters and greeters with great curiosity and an unfortunate amount of lip-smacking, was not the best choice.

"None of them are considered ripe, because none of them are food." Korra looks at the journalists, photographers and wealthy citizens. They stare back at her, faces pale. "Those would be people, Borr. And what are people?"

"Not...food?"

"Correct!"

Korra offers the assembled dignitaries and journalists a thumbs up. None of them respond to the gesture, possibly because they're too busy taking in Borr's seven mouths and many, many different kinds of teeth, suitable for any of the many different courses a banquet might contain.

"It is...confusing. I am quite certain that, not long ago, there was food that looked just like..." Borr waves one large, surprisingly elegant hand at the journalists. "Them. Are you certain they can't be eaten?"

"Yeah, pretty sure," Korra says, breathing slowly and steadily, determined to stay calm. "And, uh, 10,000 years _is_ considered long ago in this world. Even so, best not to mention that you maybe used to eat people..."

Korra looks at the journalists. They look back at her, pens and pencils poised over their notebooks.

"I said _maybe_! Okay, here's a quote if you need one: no one is going to be eaten at Republic City's first joint human-spirit Spirit Festival!" Korra folds her arms and turns her back on them, gritting her teeth at the sound of ink and lead being scratched into paper. "Borr, the Great Spirit of Banquets, is here to coordinate with us and to help us create an, uh, elegant and graceful atmosphere. Borr is _not_ in charge of the menu. Right?"

"Yes, yes. I am still learning about human cuisine. It requires too many adjustments for me to adequately advise on dishes at this time. I have tasted many of the things on offer, though, so that I might better facilitate the appropriate atmosphere...humph." Borr steps forward, eclipsing Korra's view of the spirit portal, and all the frantic work being done by city work crews who are building a floor, seating and tables under the watchful eye of spirits and Air Nomads alike. Borr's mouths work silently, until the one on their shoulder quietly says, "Why do they...write down the things we say?"

"They're journalists," Korra says absently, running through her mental to-do list for the day and deciding she's probably spent enough time on 'meet the press'. Any longer with them while Borr is around can only lead to trouble. "It's what they do, so they can find ways to make you look bad later."

"Humph." Borr runs a long, slender finger along the underside of their snout. "And you are _entirely_ certain that these journalists are...people?"

"Well...maybe not _entirely_," Korra says, chuckling. She blinks, realising too late that she didn't say that in what Asami calls her 'inside and not wanting everyone outside to know what you're saying, please, for the love of the spirits, Korra' voice. "I mean, uh, no they are! That was totally a--"

Korra looks over her shoulder. The journalists stare at her, their hands motionless. And then someone triggers a camera with a flare of light, and that one is followed by the popping of another dozen flash bulbs, and then, as one, the journalists begin to write.

"...joke," Korra whispers sadly, knowing it's much too late.

* * *

It seems to Korra that civic leaders shouldn't be allowed glasses that they can stare over the tops of at people. After all, the very act of staring over them suggests that they don't _need_ them to see the person they're looking at. It's pure intimidation, and it's unfair, and the only bad thing about Raiko being out of office is that Zhu Li is even better at staring over her glasses at Korra and making her squirm.

Zhu Li finishes reading the front page of the last of the very large heap of newspapers sitting on her desk. She adjusts her glasses, staring at Korra over the top of them.

“It was a joke!” Korra squirms in her seat. "And I explained _very clearly_ to Borr that they weren't allowed to eat anyone! I even drew diagrams and visual aids so they don't get confused if I'm not around!"

Zhu Li raises her eyebrows. She glances at the stack of newspapers, all displaying headlines with the common theme: Avatar Says Journalists Aren't People, Should Instead Be Spirit Food. She looks back at Korra.

"You know the press! They blow everything out of proportion." Korra wriggles in her seat, vainly seeking a position that will make her feel comfortable while Zhu Li continues silently staring over the judgmental arcs of the rims of her glasses. "I didn't even say journalists should be eaten, that's a complete lie! I barely even _thought_ it! I, uh, I mean I didn't think it at all! Well, okay, maybe I did. But not for more than a second! Or...sure, _maybe_ two seconds, or pretty much three, but definitely not for more than five or six! And there's a difference between swallowing and digesting, and I would never let Borr _digest_ anyone, even in a thought experiment that lasted under ten seconds, so--"

"Korra." Zhu Li takes off her glasses, which is a relief right up until she buries her face in her hands and groans. "You're meant to be a bridge between humans and spirits. And journalists are the bridge between you and the larger populace. How can you _still_ not understand how to talk to them? This event _needs_ to work."

"I..." Korra sinks down into her seat, wincing. "I know."

"Do you?" Zhu Li focuses on Korra again. Even without her glasses, her gaze is devastating. "Republic City has seen so much chaos, and fixing the damage Kuvira caused is going to take a long time. The excitement over the election died down months ago, and now people are realising that Republic City won’t be repaired in my first year in office, or even my first term. People need a morale boost, and this festival could be what they need. 

“And, now that Kuvira’s trial is behind us, it means that people are more focused on the problems in front of us. And that means they’re focusing on the trouble that’s been caused because of the spirit portal _you_ opened. We need to focus them on the bene--"

"I didn't exactly have a choice!" Korra sits upright, leaning across Zhu Li's desk. "If I hadn't redirected the energy of that blast, the damage it could have done to _both_ worlds--"

"Korra!" Zhu Li raises her hand. "Avatar Korra. I am in no doubt that what you did was necessary, and good. And, frankly, an act of impossible bravery. I know the debts that you are owed by the whole of Republic City. But...this is politics." Zhu Li's hand drops limply on top of the newspapers that have overtaken the surface of her desk. "You have to do better than _this_."

Politics, Korra has discovered, are the consequence of change. It took mere hours for Kuvira's mech and spirit weapons to ravage the city. It took _seconds_ for Korra to open a new portal between the two worlds. And the ramifications of those actions will be felt for decades, maybe centuries to come, in the world of spirits and the world of humans. And that means: politics.

The spirit portal has already been the target of greedy, exploitative men, and the spirits are not any more enthusiastic than many of Republic City's human population about the new nature of their reality. That needs to change, and it's Korra's job to make that happen. Zhu Li has staked her fledgling administration's credibility on helping Korra bring some harmony to the chaos, and Korra has repaid her with headlines.

Very, very bad headlines.

Of course, Korra's reputation is also on the line. Again. And this time, messing up doesn't just affect her, or the Air Nomads, or Lin and the police force, or even Zhu Li and Republic City's government. It's going to affect Asami, too, now that she and Korra are dating.

There are no real downsides to dating Asami Sato, even if she is a very public figure. Korra is pretty sure that Asami couldn't honestly say the same about her, not when Asami has a board of directors to answer to, and a need to maintain public approval almost as urgent as Zhu Li's.

"Right." Korra sighs, slumping in her chair. "Politics. Which...ugh, what do you need me to do?"

"You'll be holding a press conference tomorrow morning."

"I will?" Korra thinks of all the things undone on her to-do list for today, and all the things she was planning on doing tomorrow morning. "I mean, I guess I can make some time--"

"Yes," Zhu Li says primly, putting on her glasses. "You will. You'll read a prepared statement, and you’ll answer some questions. You will very, very carefully answer one or two questions."

"I'm not sure I have time to write a--"

"You won't. I will."

"Oh." Korra drums her fingers on the arm of her chair. "...do _you_ have time to write me a--"

"No," Zhu Li says, her voice quiet but no less cutting for that. "I don't have time for any of this. Which is why you will be here two hours before the conference so that Varrick can take you through the statement and prepare you for the Q&A. And then, from now until the festival is over, you will be visible, polite, and accommodating to everyone who needs you. You will show the world how lucky we are to have you as our Avatar, Korra. And you will not make any jokes. Is that clear?"

"...yeah," Korra says weakly, thinking that the world is much luckier to have people like Zhu Li in it than it is to have Korra. "It's clear."

* * *

Korra takes to the rooftops on her way home. She manages to avoid the journalists waiting for her at street level, but that doesn't mean she goes unobserved. She passes a roofing crew doing repair work, all of whom eye her suspiciously as she passes. Korra wonders if it's because of the headlines, or if it has something to do with the spirits who have been following her since she left the government building.

They aren't vocal in their judgement, but Korra can feel their disapproval oozing from every brightly-coloured spirit pore on their tiny, fluffy spirit bodies. Sure, the spirits that have recognisable faces might look more bemused or even cheerful, but Korra is pretty sure that they're disapproving of her _deep down_.

She's in a foul mood by the time she's crossing the last major spirit vine between the government building and the apartment she shares with Asami. So when Borr materialises in front of her, Korra almost incinerates their snout in reflex. At the last second, she redirects her flame into the night sky, narrowly missing a pastel pink blob of a spirit that has been lazily orbiting her for the last ten minutes.

"Avatar Korra!" Borr booms, all seven of their mouths speaking in unison. "There is an urgent matter to discuss."

"Uh huh, yeah, sure. Urgent." Korra holds a hand to her chest, confirming that her heart is beating with an unhealthy degree of rapidity. "Soooo...who did you eat? And please tell me you haven't digested them yet."

"I have eaten no one! People are...not food," Borr rumbles sullenly, "no matter how appealing their scent is."

"...I'm _so_ glad you're one of the guests of honour at this event, because what could _possibly_ go wrong?"

"I have studied your diagrams, Avatar Korra," Borr's snout growls, while their other six mouths pout. "I am clear on what people are, and on what you will do to me if I should forget again."

"Good!" Korra perks up a little, because she isn't much of an artist but she took considerable pains over some of those drawings, especially all the swirly lines around the stick figure representing a vengeful Korra in the Avatar State. "So...what's the emergency?"

"Linen!" Barks the mouth in Borr's stomach. "We must discuss suitable coverings for the banquet tables! I have accordingly prepared the sacred book of..." All seven mouths intone, "Swatches!"

An enormous, glowing book appears in one of Borr's hands. Borr opens it with a flourish, showing Korra several squares of fabric which in the dark of late evening look, to Korra, identical. Korra tilts her head, considering the thickness of the book, which must contain several hundred pages.

"Uh, don't you think, maybe, that it's a little late? I can't really see what I'm looking at, so maybe we should do this later? Or, maybe someone else should--"

"None but the Avatar may decide on a matter of such import to both our worlds!"

Borr gestures, and the lesser spirits who have been following Korra flock above her head and begin to glow, casting a radiance close to sunlight on the pages of the book.

"Oh," Korra says wearily. "Okay, I guess that's visible, so I'm going to have to politely accommodate this right now, huh? Okay. Show me the swatches..."

* * *

It's late when Korra crawls into bed beside a sleeping Asami.

At least, Korra assumes that she's sleeping. But while Korra's trying to work out if she can snuggle up next to Asami without waking her, Asami softly says, "'Let Them Eat Journalists'. Really?"

Korra buries her face in her pillow and groans. She stays face down, nose squished and muscles tense, until Asami touches her. Asami convinces Korra to roll onto her side, guides her head down onto Asami's shoulder, threads her fingers through Korra's hair, recalibrates the tensions in Korra's body with a kiss to the brow.

"Which paper had that as the headline?"

"The _Yue Bay Sentinel_," Asami says, and Korra doesn't need to look to tell that she's smirking. "Do you want me to cancel our subscription?"

"I didn't know we had one."

"We didn't, until I saw that headline," Asami says cheerfully, but she runs her fingers through Korra's hair, and she pulls Korra close, closer, allowing Korra to press herself against Asami, allowing Korra’s stress to melt away into her body. "They had a good photo of you, too."

"Wonderful."

"I kept the clipping."

"Of course you did. Thank you so much."

"Oh, it was my pleasure!"

Korra growls into Asami's chest, but she puts her arm around Asami's waist and squeezes her gently. She breathes in a lungful of air scented with around a dozen creams and lotions, all of them blended in Korra's mind with the scent of Asami's skin, Asami's hair, the scent of what it means to be home.

Asami kisses her brow again. Softly she asks, "How upset was Zhu Li?"

"Not any more than she had a right to be. She's making me do a press conference tomorrow."

"Hmm." Asami laces her fingers through Korra's. "How upset are you?"

"I don't know. Some? Lots?" Korra shakes her head. "I've been working so hard on this festival, and I'm not...great at most of the things a human-spirit bridge is supposed to do. But this is important. People need to understand that the portal is here to stay, that more and more spirits are going to come to the city, and...and the spirits need to understand that more people are going to want to visit the Spirit World, too. Both our worlds are changing, and there’s no going back. There needs to be trust between humans and spirits if that isn't going to end badly for everyone. And that means I need to work harder, and not open my dumb mouth, and--"

"Slow down," Asami murmurs. "You need to slow down, Korra. Give yourself a chance to rest. Give the world a chance to catch up to you."

"Ha!" Korra raises her head, taking in Asami's expression. There’s no hint of a smirk, no hint of teasing now. "Asami...I feel like I'm still frantically trying to catch up to everything _I_ missed. The world is still way ahead of me. I can't slow down. Not again. Not now."

"I...don't think you're seeing things clearly, Korra. Maybe you've been too caught up in micromanaging this festival that--"

"I haven't spent _that_ much time with the tiny spirits," Korra says dismissively. "Get it? Because _micro_\--"

"Ha. Ha." Asami kicks Korra's shin. "You know what I mean. I think, if you take a step back and--"

"Are _you_ accusing _me_ of getting too involved in a project? Didn't I find you passed out on your desk at Future Industries last week?"

"That..." Asami huffs out a breath. "That was a power nap!"

"Oh, it was _very_ powerful, yeah. I had to pry your face off the desk," Korra points out. "You'd welded yourself on there with drool."

"I do _not_ drool in my sleep! And you did not have to pry anything off of anything. And...and you are not changing the subject to me right now!"

"I'm just saying, when you get into the last weeks before a product release, you get so into it you...you should know that I can't stop now! It's just a few more days, and then the stupid festival will be over and we'll be on to the next stupid crisis I can make worse with my stupid...stupidness!"

"Korra, I oversee the whole of Future Industries. It's my job to remember the overall..." Asami sighs. "Look, I know you're feeling all of this pressure, and you feel responsible for everything that happened while you were...you are _so_ caring, Korra. But you have to try to stop finding ways to blame yourself for anything that goes wro--'

"I don't _find_ ways to--"

"I just...I want you to value the good you do, too! I think you lose sight of that when you get caught up in--"

"Okay, seriously! I...get it. And I'm not _blaming_ myself for anything I didn't...actually do this time. Okay?" When Asami opens her mouth in protest, Korra gently pokes her in the side, making her laugh softly instead. "I'm not doing that. I _am_ responsible, for opening the portals, for the spirit vines, for the new portal in Republic City. I'm...I'm responsible for a lot of damage, and a lot of uncertainty, and it's my _job_ to make sure--"

"Rest." Asami tilts her head, her lips grazing Korra's cheek. "Right now it's your job to rest, Korra. Because I've noticed that your response to stress, when you can't fight someone, is to make bad jokes. And you have a press conference tomorrow because today you--"

"Right, right. Yes. Fine! I'll try to get some rest. Although, hey! My jokes aren’t--mph!"

This time, Asami cuts her off with a kiss that sears away most of Korra's conscious thoughts, burning away even the memory of examining 1,001 swatchesby spirit light.

Asami pulls away first, smiling. "I love you. I believe in you. The festival is going to be amazing. You need to rest, though. So...go to sleep, Korra."

"I'm...not sure I can after _that_," Korra protests, pouting up at Asami.

"Well..." Asami smirks. "I have an early start, too, so _I'm_ going to sleep. Goodnight, Korra!"

She lies down and closes her eyes, still smirking.

"Are you seriously...? You monster!" Korra sighs, but she smiles fondly at her girlfriend, kisses her cheek, and burrows into her side. “Hey.”

“Mmm?”

“Are _you_ upset?”

Asami squeezes Korra’s hand. “I’m mostly worried about keeping a straight face when the media ask me about all this when I get to work tomorrow…”

“Monster!” Korra bites her lip. “Hey. I’m sorry if I--”

“I’m not.” Asami shifts, tangling her legs with Korra’s, bringing the two of them even closer together. “I’m not sorry about us in any way. Are you?”

“What?! No! No.” Korra presses her nose into the crook of Asami’s neck. She breathes Asami in, and sighs the last of her tension out. “Never.”

“Good. Sleep, Korra.”

"Goodnight, Asami. I love you, too."

* * *

The best thing that can be said about the next three days is that they pass.

Varrick's idea of a briefing is to give Korra five minutes to read Zhu Li's--efficiently graceful--statement, then demand Korra read it back while he heckles her mercilessly. After twenty minutes of _that_, he switches to firing questions at Korra with a rapidity that the entire press corp would struggle to match.

As it turns out, no one at the subsequent press conference asks Korra which of Borr's seven mouths has the nicest breath, so Varrick's prep _is_ helpful, if only in the sense that the actual experience is much shorter and far less unpleasant than spending two hours practicing with Varrick was.

After that, Korra simply has to get back to wrangling humans and spirits alike while juggling her other Avatar duties, and even sleeping occasionally. Adding to the gnawing guilt and chewing anxiety that Korra experiences every waking moment is the fact that she’s failing in her girlfriend duties. Korra knows that Asami doesn’t blame her for being distracted, but that doesn’t mean that Korra can’t blame herself.

It doesn’t really help when the day of the festival arrives, because Korra has to be at the portal early, bridging as hard as she can for the whole day, and she doesn’t get a chance for more than a sleepy kiss goodbye with Asami in the morning. 

The work crews have completed their work, creating an elegant, open-air banqueting hall. The hall is decked out in an array of beautiful linens and colourful silks. Korra is intimately familiar with the thread count and pattern of every one of them after hours of consulting with Borr and Zhu Li’s aides, working to find a compromise that would suit the Great Spirit’s aesthetic sensibilities and Republic City’s budget. It has been built near and looks out onto the spirit portal, and has been left with one wall and the roof open so that the spirits can come and go with ease, and so that the guests have a view of the spirit procession when it comes through the portal later this evening.

Everyone in the city will be able to see the spirits when they come to visit, but those in the hall will have an unrivalled view. It won’t just be Republic City’s richest and most important, either; Zhu Li held a lottery to make sure that some of the ordinary citizens would have a chance to attend, too.

The hall fills up as the day wears on, and crowds gather outside the hall, and in the parks, and in the streets. There are speeches, and toasts, and prowling journalists menacing those around them with open notepads, and there is Korra: visibly struggling to be polite, accommodating spirits and humans alike in answering last minute questions, concerns, problems.

There is Korra, her muscles growing ever more taut, like the cables of a suspension bridge under too much stress.

The evening brings candles and oil lamps to soften the darkness. The evening brings the most important human guests, and a host of small, curious spirits. The evening brings the CEO of Future Industries to Korra, wrapped in formal attire that Asami wears with an elegance Korra--and everyone assembled for the banquet--can only admire.

Having Asami near makes things a little easier, but it makes things a little worse, too. There are too many people, too many spirits, too many cameras, too many things that must go right, and too much formality for Korra to be able to relax and enjoy an evening with her girlfriend. Instead, the Avatar and the CEO weave through the crowd, being visible, being polite, and able to accommodate each other with a few smiles in passing as the evening thickens into night and the moment for the spirits to arrive draws near.

That's the moment that Korra is dreading the most, because if something can go wrong at this point, that's when it will. Korra's so on edge by that point that she's almost forgotten how hungry she is, even with the start of the feast an hour away. Korra's so on edge watching a small, fluffy spirit hovering dangerously close to Zhu Li that she doesn't notice Asami join her side until Asami's hand settles on the small of her back.

"Korra, would you like to get some air?"

"Uh..." Korra looks at Asami, then up at the place where the ceiling isn't, then back at Asami. "There's plenty in here?"

Asami pinches Korra's back. 

"Ow!"

"I meant," Asami says patiently, smiling calmly at a passing Cabbage Corp executive, "that since you're obviously feeling jumpy, maybe we should get away for a few minutes."

"Well, obviously I'm going to jump if you pinch me! Pleasedon'tdoitagain!"

"If you don't want me to take advantage of you in a backless dress..." Asami's mouth curls into a smirk. "You'd better do as I say."

"But..." Belatedly, Korra remembers Zhu Li. When she looks, though, she sees that the spirit has perched on one of Zhu Li's fingers, and Zhu Li is cooing at it, a smile on her face. Korra sighs. "Okay. I guess we have little while before the big event."

"Exactly." Asami's smirk intensifies. "Let's go for a drive."

* * *

Once again, Korra can only admire the way Asami guides them out of the event space. Asami is all smiles and polite brush offs; she never stops moving, tugging Korra irresistibly along by the hand out of the hall, out past Lin's inner security cordon, into her car and then into the city itself.

At first, Korra is content to simply breathe and let the city wash over her. The night is punctuated with electric lamps and firelight, the main streets that Asami skilfully avoids full of people, the whole city filling with an almost tangible excitement.

"This is...nice," Korra admits after more minutes have passed than she bothered to count. "Seeing people having fun I had nothing to do with."

Asami gives her a strange look, but she doesn't say anything.

Another minute passes, and Korra realises as the climb a hill where the road narrows, constricted by a thick spirit vine, that they're getting further from the banquet hall and closer to...Korra blinks.

"Asami? What's going on? It's almost time. We should be heading back."

She smiles, lips deep red and deeply happy. "Trust me?"

"Always."

"Then wait just a few more minutes, and it'll all make sense."

So Korra waits, some of the tension that ebbed away flowing back into her, knotting her muscles and filling her lungs. She trusts Asami, of course, but can she trust everything to go smoothly at the portal without the Avatar being present?

A few minutes more brings them to a hotel Korra recognises, though it doesn't bring her any clarity. "Didn't we...uh, we had a meal here once, right? When we'd been dating for a few weeks?"

"That's right. Technically this was where we had our first date after the Spirit World."

"Uh...okay? But why--"

"Because I want to show you something. Come on. I promise, you won't miss the procession."

Sometimes, Korra doesn't trust herself, but she's never regretted trusting Asami. So she follows Asami into the hotel, past the front desk, into the elevator and ultimately into the penthouse suite. It's dimly light, and only because the balcony doors are open and the blinds have been lifted from the windows. When Korra hesitates, Asami snags one hand in both of hers and grins at Korra, pulling her out onto the balcony more with the warmth of her smile than the pull of her hands.

On the balcony is a table set for two. A variety of dishes lie covered on a trolley beside the table, along with an ice bucket containing a bottle of wine.

Korra feels a sudden, terrifying certainty. "...I forgot our anniversary, didn't I?"

"Not yet, no." Asami pulls Korra into a kiss. "I'm a few weeks early, but...I thought you might need this tonight. So: happy early anniversary, Korra."

"Um. Thanks." Feeling awkward and shy and conflicted, Korra mumbles, "You too!"

But Asami just laughs, and kisses her again. When she finally allows Korra to surface for air, Korra feels a lot less conflicted about being here with the woman she loves more than the stars above and the earth below rather than at the portal. Still, there's the nagging sense that she needs to be the Avatar tonight, and not the Korra who wants to be with Asami whenever she can.

"I thought you said we'd be back in time for the spirit procession?"

"I said we wouldn't miss it." Asami gestures at the view from the balcony, which shows them a swathe of the city, lit up in celebration. In the distance, it gives them an amazing view of the spirit portal, too. "We won't from here. Zhu Li and Lin and Mako and Tenzin and...everyone can handle things at the portal. This is where you should be tonight, Korra. This is what I wanted to show you."

"It's...amazing, Asami. Really. The suite, and the meal we don't have to wait another hour for. Which...you are seriously a genius, because you worked out I'd be hungry, which I am!"

"That did take some figuring out," Asami murmurs fondly, "that you'd be hungry by now."

"I love it. Really. But what if something happens while I'm--"

"You've prepared everyone, Korra. You've worked for months for this night. It's going to be fine. And..." Asami checks her watch, then nods. "It wasn't the suite I wanted to show you. It's this."

Asami gently cups Korra's jaw, tilting her head so that she's staring up at the sky around the portal. For a moment, it remains green light splashed across the black. And then, the portal pulses and the procession begins. Asami nestles into Korra's side, pulling Korra's arm around her waist and linking their hands. Korra can only watch, dizzy with awe, as the sky fills with lights of every colour, of every distinguishable shade, as first a hundred, then a thousand spirits cross from one world to the other.

Cheers and shouts echo from the streets below, and even from the balcony Korra can feel the pulse of the city quicken, can feel joy and delight and wonder fill the air.

"It's so beautiful," Korra says softly, pulling Asami in closer. "I've never seen so many spirits at once! It's...amazing. Listen to those cheers! It's...it's--"

"It's perfect. It's beautiful. It's...the start of something new for Republic City. It's the foundation on which a lot of new bridges are going to built between the two worlds. And it's because of _you_," Asami says fiercely. "This is what you couldn't see when you were in the middle of it all. This is what I needed you to see. This...this is what the world looks like, when you slow down and let it catch up with you. Because we're all chasing you, Korra." 

Korra finds her gaze pulled from the panoply of lights above, to the twin green lamps of Asami's eyes. They lock onto Korra's burning with love and conviction. "You've changed the whole world, Korra. You've made it so much richer, so much more wonderful, so much better for so many of us! You may not have helped organise all of those parties down there, but none of them would have been possible without you. None of this would be happening if you hadn't done something no one else could have done, if you hadn't taken an act of wanton destruction and created something new and vital and alive! This is you, Korra. This is the world you've given us. And after tonight, a lot of people are going to understand what I've known for a long, long time."

"What..." Korra clears her throat. "What's that?" 

"That you're worth all the bad jokes," Asami murmurs, her lips curving up. Before Korra can protest, though, she adds, "That it's worth it, to try to keep up with you. To try to help you when you forge on ahead. I'll _always_ be trying to keep up with you, my love, because you're shaping the future I want to live in, and I want to be there to share it with you. I want to be able to show you, if you lose sight of it again, what you mean to the world. And what you mean to me."

"Asami..."

"Korra, I haven't just got through this past year, I've been alive and so full of joy, because you--mph!"

Korra kisses Asami then, because she knows that she'll never be eloquent enough to express the gratitude she feels, or the love, or the thrill that fills her body in place of the doubts and the guilt and the worry that she's been carrying for months. Korra kisses her because she might not remember this feeling tomorrow, because she'll absolutely forget how she feels right now in a month or a year, when the next crisis arises, but right now, Korra is filled with the energy of two worlds and she wants nothing more that to share it with Asami.

Korra kisses Asami because she wants to, more now than ever before.

When they finally come up for air, Korra lifts Asami up and twirls her around, setting her gently back on the balcony. "I love you, Asami. I need you to know that. I need you to know that that's one thing that will never change in this world. I can't imagine a better world without you in it."

And maybe it's not much, compared to what Asami said and what Asami has done, but it seems to be enough for Asami, and that means that Korra can let it be enough for now.

They watch the rest of the spirit procession entwined with each other, sharing the warmth of their bodies, and kisses whenever the mood strikes them. Which is often enough that they miss more of the dance of the spirits than they see. What wonder they miss in the sky above, though, seems almost trivial to the wonder that they find in each other that night, and every night after.

* * *

They spend the night and the next day in the hotel suite. Korra checks in with Zhu Li's office only once, but after making sure that Borr got through the night without so much as nibbling a tabloid reporter, Korra leaves the phone off the hook and she and Asami enjoy their own, more private celebration of Republic City's new holiday.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading folks! Happy Spirit Festival to you all!
> 
> And the prompt was: Asami surprises Korra with a date on their anniversary. Don't ask me where the spirit who may or may not have eaten people and has seven mouths came from given that prompt, it's just how my mind works, okay?
> 
> I don't know the workings of your mind, dear reader, but perhaps you could show me some of them in a comment? That would be a lovely seasonal gift! :)


End file.
